Nov 16th, 2012

Rose are red, but the Kazanjian Red is a 5.05 carat short emerald cut, originally discovered in the 1920s in Lichtenburg, South Africa. The rough weighed 35 carat. At the time, a diamond dealer paid 280 British pounds (eight pounds per carat) for it, and shipped the rock to Amsterdam to be cut and polished by the Goudiv brothers. Many mistook the stone for a ruby because of its blood-red color.

After being cut, the stone had a wild ride for years. It was sent to Tiffany & Co. in New York, was stolen by the Nazi’s and sent to Germany, re-acquired by Louis Asscher after being found in Bavaria, sold to Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, sold again to the Royal Asscher Diamond Co., and in 1970 the stone went MIA.

That is until 2007, when an Asian collector, according to Michael Kazanjian, chairman of Kazanjian Diamonds, approached his son and company chief executive officer, Douglas, with the stone. After some research, the younger Kazanjian determined that this was the missing red, which was—according to Michael Kazanjian—renamed the Kazanjian Red.